Sayat-Nova

Sayat-Nova, whose own name was Harutyun Sayadian, was an Armenian ashugh, or minstrel, known for his love songs. He was born in Tiflis in 1712 and died there in 1795.¹

He worked first as a weaver. From 1750 to 1765 he was a court minstrel to Irakli II of Georgia, and in 1770 he entered the monastery of Haghpat.¹ Persian invaders of Georgia killed him in 1795.¹

Most of the songs that survive are in Azeri Turkish, and the rest are in Armenian and Georgian.¹